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"Ray Donovan" (Showtime, Sundays). Ann Biderman's series about a Hollywood fixer, the dysfunctional (Boston Irish) family he came from and the dysfunctional family he heads begins a second season. (The last finished with revealed secrets, a degree of reconciliation and recovery, and the blood of James Woods.) As antiheroes go, Ray is among the anti-est -- that he sometimes does bad things for good reasons, and that he is usually on the side of better people against worse ones, doesn't make the bad things particularly less bad. But Liev Schreiber's performance, like that of (Emmy-nominated) Jon Voight as his troublesome father Mickey, is so balanced and nuanced, so...

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"Ray Donovan" (Showtime, Sundays). Ann Biderman's series about a Hollywood fixer, the dysfunctional (Boston Irish) family he came from and the dysfunctional family he heads begins a second season. (The last finished with revealed secrets, a...

Add David Simon, creator of the acclaimed HBO series “The Wire” and “Treme,” to the list of those appalled that George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
On his blog, Audacity of Despair, the auteur has been...

Though it begins as a slick, tongue-in-cheek guide to successful dope dealing (think: a kind of latter day "Steal This Book"), the documentary "How to Make Money Selling Drugs" masterfully evolves into something far more vital,...

The unexpected death of James Gandolfini, who was best known for his work on the series "The Sopranos," recently re-ignited the conversation over How Much Television has Changed, which has become so intense and widespread in the last few years...

Sunday brings the brief fourth-season return of "Treme," David Simon and Eric Overmyer's story of life, death, music and food in the city of New Orleans. I had, for some reason, thought the show was canceled, even though a look back into the...

Every city has its own singular character — just ask Minneapolis about St. Paul — but there is perhaps no American city as singularly singular, as stubbornly exotic, as attached to its difference as New Orleans, that funky little cosmopolis set down in...

Like the television character he helped inspire, Donnie Andrews lived by a code.
In his earlier years, when he was robbing rival dealers as a young hustler in West Baltimore — experiences that would later form the basis for the popular Omar Little...

Robert F. Chew Baltimore-based actor on 'The Wire' Robert F. Chew, 52, an actor and teacher who portrayed the drug kingpin Proposition Joe on the HBO series "The Wire," died Thursday of apparent heart failure in his sleep at his Baltimore...

In an ironic twist of truth imitating fiction, Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, who gained acclaim for her portrayal of a ruthless drug assassin in HBO's landmark series "The Wire," was arrested Thursday in Baltimore during a drug raid by police. The ...

One minute people were milling around the silent auction with pre-event drinks, the next author Robert Pinsky was getting a laurel wreath on his head with his lifetime achievement award and reading a Czesław Miłosz poem to send us on our way

Anthony Bourdain, the chef-turned-writer-turned-gonzo-television host, has judged “Top Chef,” hosted “No Reservations” and written for “Treme.” He talked over lunch in New York (sausage baguette and beer) and later via phone, about many projects, including his

David Simon, creator of "The Wire" and "Treme," has started blogging on his own website, davidsimon.com. David Simon has been reluctant to blog before, but relishes the chance to speak directly to the public.

Eight Californians, including a public high school physics teacher, a deaf sign-language expert, a jellyfish researcher and an installation artist, are among 23 winners of this year's grants from the MacArthur Foundation.
The recipients will each...

For most people, spending time with a violent, Tabasco-guzzling Oregon anarchist, a teenage member of the Aryan Brotherhood, opera-loving lawyers whose dog fatally mauled an innocent woman and an eternally wired, drugged-out Hollywood agent would not be...

Melissa Leo is conflicted. For her latest film, "The Fighter," where she co-stars opposite Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale in a performance that's destined to earn her a second Oscar nomination, has her all knotted up with different...

Now that the International Olympic Committee has snubbed Chicago and chose Rio de Janeiro to play host to the 2016 Summer Games, will the U.S. Olympic Committee try again to bring the Olympics to this country? How about to this ...

The Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival is running a short story contest for writers who have not yet published a book of fiction, and the reward is bigger than usual. The winner will get domestic airfare, accommodations and admission ...